Episode 8

Regular exercise, balanced diets, sufficient sleep, and stress management are practical tips for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Start small with exercise, aim for 150 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic exercises or 75 minutes of high intensity interval exercises. Adopt an 80-20 rule for your diet, 80% whole foods and 20% indulgences. Create a sleep-friendly environment and aim for 7-9 hours of sleep. Manage stress through activities like earthing, meditation, deep breathing, and setting boundaries. Practical tip number one, prioritize regular exercise. That's right, you've heard me say it, and I'll say it again, and I'll say it 100 times more. Exercise is key to healthy daily habits. Regular physical activity is vital, it's crucial for maintaining that healthy body and mind of yours. Now Sean, you may be asking, I don't like exercising. I don't like working out. I don't like doing the hardcore stuff that you like doing. Okay, cool, start small. But just doing something, get the body moving, right? Aim for 150 minutes, that's 20 to 30 minutes a day, in moderate intensity aerobic exercises, or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity exercises, which we call HIIT, like high intensity interval exercises. By just doing five to 10 minutes of a HIIT workout, you start sweating, getting the endorphins pumping. And it's like a drug, right? Once you do it, there's no going back. And maybe, Sean, I've tried this before. I've been down that road, and I didn't get anywhere. Well, don't give up, right? Try again, maybe do something different this time, whether it's a HIIT workout, or whether it's jogging, swimming, cycling, dancing. Do something that's active, and that you enjoy doing and love doing. Find that accountability as a partner as well. It can be super effective. So finding that form of exercise that you enjoy, you will try to, I would encourage you to make that a regular part of your daily and weekly routine. It's just, it's a life changer, it's a game changer. You feel better, you show up better, and you gotta better, you gotta pep in your step, right? Okay, another practical tip, adopt balanced diets. So, I don't like the word diet. What I like is a lifestyle change, whole foods, balanced whole foods that you're putting in your body. And so what I try to do is an 80-20 rule. And before this, I'm 36 years of age, and before this, I was just putting anything in my body, man. I was literally putting pizzas, cinnamon rolls, probably, if there's 21 meals in a week, right? Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, every day, times seven, that's 21 meals. I was eating, I was working out nonstop, and I was eating half those meals, typically anywhere from 12 to 14 meals, just crap food, junk food, fried food, pizzas, whatever I wanted to eat, I was just maintaining. And I was slowly, gradually putting on weight as well. So now I follow what's called an 80-20 rule, because, let me be transparent with you, I still love food, we're human beings. I'm sure if you're listening to this, you love food too. How can you not, right? The food is so dang good. So I follow an 80-20 rule, it's a lifestyle change. So 80% of the time, I'm eating whole foods, green bell peppers, eggs, grass-fed steak, organic foods, mushrooms, protein, chicken, right? I'm putting the whole foods in my body that allows me to show up a better version of myself every single day and feel good. And then the other 20% of the time, guess what? I'm eating pizza, that's right, baby. I'm eating pizza, I'm eating maybe a cookie. What about them cookie crumbles? Who's a cookie crumble fan out there? I know there's some cookie crumble fans. So that other 20% of the time, I'm eating whatever the heck I freakin' wanna eat, okay? Now, if you're obviously, if you had a doctor visit or you're on a mission to have a 12-pack and you've got this real fine diet that you need to be on, okay, cool, maybe you have to be maxed out 100%. But is it sustainable? I don't know, that's for you to answer. But for me, in order to sustain this, it has to be a lifestyle change. So I follow the 80-20 rule and I found that works best for me. And I would encourage you to try that as well, 80-20 rule. Also, your environment, right? When you're following a balanced diet or a balanced lifestyle change with whole foods, your environment. So do you have cookies in your pantry, gummy bears? Do you have snacks? What kind of snacks? Is it banana, strawberries, and blueberries? Or is it cookies, cereal, and something else that's not good for you? It's important to have the environment that you're in to set it up for success. Because if not, if I have cookies in my house, if you come over to my house and I have cookies and oatmeal, or I'm sorry, cereal, then guess what, I'm eating it. I'm the cookie monster. I will devour it, okay? So make sure your environment, set yourself for success in your environment at your home and where you're going. And then also, if you're going to a restaurant, this is a little golden nugget, look at the menu ahead of time. So when you go to, like we're going to Benihana's, we have a date night every Tuesday, me and my wife, and I've already looked at their menu. I already know what I'm getting, right? I've already looked at the caloric intake, the protein, and that's it, that's what I'm gonna keep it to. The last but not least is on the adopt a balanced diet is your why. Why do you want to lose weight? Sean, why do you wanna follow the 80-20 rule? Sean, why do you wanna set your environment up for this? Well, for me, it's simple. It's because this allows me to become the best version of myself. This allows me to have the energy, the vitality, the bliss, the love, the feelings that I feel when I get to serve and impact through this podcast, through this episode. It allows me to feel the way I feel. It allows me to feel good in the mornings when I wake up versus, because listen, I've been down that road, right? You have the road of most traveled, which is what everybody's doing. They're going to the buffets, they're eating at the Golden Crowds, they're eating the pizzas, they're eating the cookies, they're eating all that crap. I've done that. I have done that for 30 plus years of my life. I know what it feels like after I get done eating that crap food, right? You feel lethargic, you feel like crap, you don't feel like doing anything. That was me. So your why, it has to be more important than you wanting to breathe, and that's me. So I know the next time I say yes to that cookie or yes to that pizza, does it fall on that 80-20 rule? And then I attach my why, I attach an emotion behind it. No, I know what I'm gonna feel like once I eat that pizza. So instead, I'm gonna have something else that I may enjoy, right? A piece of chicken or salmon, and maybe I spice it up a little bit with the ingredients. So make sure you have your why. Okay, practical tip number three, sufficient sleep. Sufficient sleep. Guys, if somebody came to me, my 18-year-old younger self, said, hey, what's the number one thing you recommend? Actually, there would be top three, right? You already know that I recommend mentors and coaches if you wanna speed up the learning curve and the success of life. I mean, there's not a better hack out there than getting a mentor or a coach. But this is one of the, this is top three, sufficient sleep. Adequate sleep is essential for your physical and mental restoration. You wanna aim for seven to nine hours, right? So I've had, I've gotten the five hours and I've gotten the 10 hours, 11 hours, 12 hours. So I've been on both sides, right? The road most traveled and the road less traveled. Seven hour, seven and a half hour track is about the sweet spot for me. It may be different for you, but typically humans need that seven to nine hours to help improve your body to recover. It helps improve the cognitive function and supports emotional well-being. If you wanna show off the best version of yourself for your spouse, for your kids, and to be able to tackle the, you know, what goes on every single day, guys, you need your sleep and you have to have that balanced diet, okay? So create that sleep, that sleep-friendly environment, establish a consistent sleep schedule, and avoid using electronic devices before bedtime to improve the quality of your sleep. I've talked about this in a prior episode, so go back and listen to that. Cannot stress it enough. Okay, another practical tip, manage stress. So I do what's called earthing. I just found this out, guys. This is so super cool. So I just found this out. Y'all know I'm super obsessed with self-mastery, right? Which is one of my core values. Have you ever heard of earthing? I didn't either, right? I'm sure 99.9% of you hadn't heard of it either. So earthing is basically just connecting with Earth, right? So we're either on a plane, a vehicle, a motorcycle, or we're walking around in our shoes. We're never really attached or drawn on Earth, on surface, on the dirt, right? Remember as kids, we didn't have a care in the world. I don't know about you, but when I was growing up, I didn't have shoes, I was barefooted everywhere. I was playing in the dirt, the mud, I was outside, I didn't have a care in the world, right? No peace, no stress, no anxiety, no responsibility. So earthing, I encourage you to try it out. Look it up, you can even buy Earth maps on Amazon. And I haven't gone to that extent, but I simply, like yesterday, I laid out in the sun, it's 115 degrees here in Texas, and I was laying out in the sun for 30 minutes. I had my shoes off, I was just on the ground earthing. It was so peaceful, it was so relaxing. So managing stress, so the reason I spend a little bit of time on earthing is that helps manage stress. The chronic stress can negatively impact your health, right? So you want to find some type of stress-reducing activity that works for you. Another example could be mindful meditation, deep breathing exercises. Right? Deep breathing exercises, concentrate on your breath. Yoga, actually tried that one yesterday, oh my gosh. I've lifted weights my entire life, done high-intensity workouts, and I tried yoga for the first time yesterday, folks. Woo, man, that kicked my rear end, but I'm gonna keep doing it because it helps manage my stress. And then also, like we've already covered, earthing, spending time in nature. Also taking breaks, setting the boundaries, like we've talked about in episode five, I believe it was, and seeking support from mentors, coaches, friends and family, which can help manage that stress effectively. Okay, another practical tip, stay hydrated. I've talked to several people over the years that have told me that they don't drink any water during the day. That is mind-blowing. It is 115 degrees out here in Texas in the middle of June of 2023, and if you're not staying hydrated, guys, I can assure you that you're not working on becoming the best version of yourself. So the rule of thumb is you want to drink half your body weight, I don't know, there's so many different opinions and resources out there, but for me personally, I try to drink half the body weight. So I'm about a 190, 195, so me, I do workouts and stuff like that, and I sweat a lot, so I drink about 120 ounces a day, okay? But the rule of thumb is you want to drink half your body weight, so if you're 200 pounds, you're drinking 100 ounces of water per day. And I like to throw some lemon in there, some Himalayan salt to help, I believe, with electrolytes. So, okay, also the water, it plays a crucial role in maintaining the other bodily functions and overall health, right? And so, one of the things that I like to do is that me and Kendra do, my wife, is we carry a water bottle, which helps, remember, out of mind, out of sight, right? So this is part of that environment. So carrying a water bottle everywhere you go, I carry a 40 ounce water bottle. If it's in front of you, you're gonna drink it, right? Nine times out of 10. Just like if that cookie or pizza was in front of you, that environment, you're gonna eat it. So carry that water bottle with you. Okay, another practical tip, limit screen time. That's right, you're listening to this on your phone. So I'm sure you've probably just looked at your phone, you've looked how much longer this has got on this episode, you've looked what you gotta do next, your calendar. You're always on your phone or television or Netflix or TikTok or social media. Oh my gosh, guys, limit that screen time. You can also, there's a feature on your iPhone where you can see the setting where it says what your screen time is, how much you use YouTube, how much you use Facebook or podcasts or, so it's pretty cool. So look it up, it's screen time on your, if you got like a Droid or an iPhone, you can type it in the settings and look what your behaviors are. So one of the things that I do on one of the features or the tools that I use, it's called a Whoop, and I journal my behaviors. So in other words, like if I look at electronic devices at a certain time, I know that I need to cut off my electronic devices, because I go to bed at 7.30, I know I need to cut off those devices at typically an hour, hour and a half before and put blue light blocking glasses on. Because if I don't, what I've learned in the past is the blue lights from our TVs and our devices and our phones, there's such an array of blue light coming out that it messes with our REM and deep sleep. Yeah, it's crazy, right? So journaling, so me journaling those behaviors has allowed me to understand that I need to limit that screen time, okay, before you go, especially before you go to bed. And then you can also, as far as make time for fulfilling activities like reading, hobbies, and spending more time with loved ones when you limit that screen time, okay? Another practical tip, cultivate mindfulness. So practicing mindfulness can help you stay present and reduce anxiety. Well, what do you mean, Sean? I'm so busy, I have kids, I have a job, I have a career, I've got responsibilities, I've got to get on my phone, I've got to listen to this podcast. Guys, all I'm asking you to do is take a few minutes each day to practice mindfulness, meditation, or simply focus on your breathing. Here we go, you ready? Breathe with me, here we go, take a deep breath. You hear that? Simply focus on your breathing instead of focusing on everything else, instead of focusing on Sean on this episode, instead of focusing on your kids and your wife and your partner's husband and your employee and your employer, focus on your breathing. Mindful, also mindful eating can also improve your relationships with food and enhance your eating experience. So in other words, I think I've shared this in one of my coaching, with one of my coaching students, is mindful eating, one of the things that I do is when I have breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and I don't do this all the time because I'm imperfect just like you, I set a timer for 15 minutes, 15 to 20 minutes, I wanna take 15 to 20 minutes to enjoy this food because what I used to do in the past, don't tell anybody I said this, but this is what I used to do, oh my gosh, for three decades, if there was food in front of me, I would just devour it, I didn't care if you were sitting next to me, I didn't wanna sit there and talk to you, I wanted to eat that freaking food, you know what I mean? Like if it was fried pickles, fried mushrooms, pizza, whatever it was, if it was sitting in front of me, I'm gonna sit there and eat that food, don't talk to me, right? That's not mindful eating. That's not what I'm talking about. You're not gonna hit your health goals if you don't follow that. So mindful eating can improve the relationship with food and it's allowed me to do that after putting in the work. Okay, another practical tip. Last but not least, socialize and connect. Oh my, guys, I'm a guilty as charged, I'm gonna be completely brutally honest with you. I was the type of guy, and I still challenge with this to this day, I feel like a lone wolf. Do you ever feel like that? Like you're just, success is a lonely road, you're by yourself, and well, maybe you do, maybe you don't, but me, I felt really lonely, right? And what I mean by that is like, I knew I had friends, but I didn't have any deep connections with my friends. And so I just felt like I was going through day to day to day, just doing what I needed to do, my task responsibilities, and it just felt unfulfilled, a lack of purpose, and a majority of that was due to not being socializable, because I thought, you know, society feels like, hey, go to school, get a job, put your head down, do what you're told, be submissive, go to work, and pick your head up in 40, 50, 60 years, and retire, right? That's what society tries to sell you, and that's what the road is most, that's what's most traveled. I was like, man, I've done that for the last 15 years of my life. Like, I know where this gets me. Let's try something different, right? Which is the road less traveled, and socializing and connecting. And what I mean by that is like, actually being intentional about it. So I started a mastermind group. We meet every week for two hours every single week. I literally, I have multiple businesses, so I design my week to fit around my mastermind group in socializing, connecting deep with those friends. Same thing with my spouse. I design my week, my businesses, my coaching, my students, to make sure I connect with my wife, okay? Rob Dial, he's got another podcast. He says, he's got this acronym, it's called HALT. It's H-A-L-T, it's called HALT. You can write this down. Hungry, angry, lonely, tired. Hungry, angry, lonely, tired. So when I'm feeling, when I'm feeling, when I'm doing my meditation, or when I'm feeling a certain way, I'm either, you're either hungry, and that's me a lot of times, right? Like, right now I'm kinda hungry. Or I'm angry, that's me sometimes. And then lonely, right? Like, that was me for 30 plus years. I felt really lonely or tired. So these show up in some way, shape, or form throughout the day, right? Whether you're hungry, angry, lonely, or tired. And it affects your well-being. And so it's just not a healthy daily habit. So make sure you get out and socialize and connect, okay? Now, maintaining these social connections is crucial for your mental and emotional health, especially with today's world and economy and everything that's happening around you. So make sure you build that solid foundation with that mental and emotional health. Make time for friends and family and participate in group activities. Join clubs, organizations that are aligned with your interests. And social interactions can help provide that support, reduce loneliness, like it did for me, and boost your overall happiness. In conclusion, developing healthy habits is a powerful way to enhance both your physical and mental well-being. By prioritizing this regular exercise, adopting balanced diet, lifestyle change, and getting enough sleep, managing stress, staying hydrated, and limiting screen time while practicing mindfulness and nurturing social connections, you can create a holistic approach to a healthier, happier, and better life. Remember, that small, consistent steps can lead to significant improvement. Small, I'm not asking you to take big leaps and bounds, guys, I'm just asking you to take a small step. So start incorporating these habits into your daily routine today. Your body and mind will thank you for it in the long run, rest assured. Thank you so much, guys, for tuning in to this episode of Level Up with Sean Myers. If you've enjoyed today's discussion, please be sure to subscribe and leave me a review. That would be greatly appreciated. And also, please share this episode with someone who needs to hear it. Friend, family, mom, dad, brother, business partner. I also love it when you tag me on the social media platforms. This is what gets me fired up, folks. Stay tuned for more exciting episodes where we'll continue to explore topics that empower you to level up in all areas of life. Keep learning, growing, and leveling up in the journey in becoming the best version of yourself.